Assessing the Assignment Policy for Army Women

Abstract

Abstract : The current U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) policy for assigning military women dates to a 1994 memorandum from then-Secretary of Defense Les Aspin. During the ensuing years, the U.S. military has undergone significant technological and organizational transformation that has resulted in changes in how the military organizes and fights. Specifically, the Army's recent transformation to modular brigades, as well as the differences between military missions in Iraq -- and the global war on terrorism (GWOT) more generally -- and military missions fought on linear battlefields during past military engagements, prompted concern among some members of Congress about the role of women in military operations in Iraq. Reflecting that, Section 541(b) of Public Law 109-163 requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the current and future implementation of DoD policy for assigning military women. This monograph is intended as input into DoD decision making and focuses on Army operations in Iraq. In particular, it focuses on the Army's brigade combat teams (BCTs) that deployed to Iraq in a modular configuration, paying specific attention to the new organic relationships of these BCTs with brigade support battalions (BSBs). This research was sponsored by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and was conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute.